US FCC to study ways to block sex, violence from kids
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission will open an inquiry to examine the various technologies to block children from watching programs with sex and violence, the agency's chief said on Monday.
"Parents must have access to control technologies that can appropriately limit their children's exposure to unsuitable material," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in releasing an agency report detailing the technologies available to parents.
The report concluded that no single parental control technology works across all the media platforms, such as over-the-air, cable and satellite television; wireless services and the Internet.
In July the Senate Commerce Committee held a hearing during which Genachowski said the existing rules governing television programing for children will be reviewed in light of the proliferation of online videos and other technological changes.
Committee chairman John Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, said more must be done by lawmakers, industry and the government to help parents block inappropriate content from children.
"We must offer the tools and policies that make it easy for people to be good parents and oversee the viewing that goes on in their homes." Rockefeller said in a statement.
"We must do more than simply gather information and hope this alone protects our children."
(Reporting by John Poirier; editing by Carol Bishopric)
